Casting wheel cooling apparatus



Aug. 1, 1967 G. c. WARD 3,333,629

CASTING WHEEL COOLING APPARATUS Fild July 18, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Gear 6 C. W910" Aug. 1, 1967 G. c. WARD 3,333,629

CASTING WHEEL COOLING APPARATUS Filed July 18, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR George C Wro vls i wfi a, fl John,

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE What is disclosed is a cooling apparatus for cooling a band which closes a length of a peripheral groove in a casting wheel to form a mold in which molten metal is cooled. Specifically, the cooling apparatus includes a wedge shaped cooling means positioned adjacent the entry end of the mold between the casting wheel and a support wheel by which the band is supported at the entry end of the mold. The wedge shaped cooling means serves as a means for directing a coolant along the surface of the band in a path away from the entry end of the mold. The cooling apparatus also includes'a plurality of additional cooling means positioned along the length of the peripheral groove closed by the band for directing a coolant against the surface of the band in paths which are substantially perpendicular to the surface of the band. The position of the wedge shaped cooling means and the path of a coolant from the wedge shaped cooling means along the surface of the band serve not only to cool the band adjacent the entry end of the mold but also to prevent splashing of coolant into the entry end of the mold or onto molten metal entering the entry end of the mold.

This invention relates to mold cooling and more particularly to a cooling apparatus for cooling a mold substantially immediately after molten metal is received in the mold.

In the casting of molten metal in a mold, it is customary to cool the mold by directing a coolant against one or more surfaces of the mold. Moreover, in US. Patent No. 3,279,000, it is taught that the cooling of a mold should be initiated substantially immediately after molten metal is received in the mold and that this immediate cooling of the mold should be sufiicient to provide initial cooling of the molten metal in the mold at a rate of cooling greater than and independent of that rate provided by subsequent cooling of the mold.

A difliculty encountered in the prior art in the cooling of a mold substantially immediately after molten metal is received in the mold is that even though it has provided initial cooling of the molten metal which is adjustable independently of subsequent cooling of the molten metal, cooling adjustments during the initial cooling of the molten metal to meet varying operating conditions have been difiicult to achieve. A further difliculty in the prior art is that where a mold is formed by the peripheral groove in a casting wheel and a band closing the peripheral groove orby another mold arrangement in which molten metal is received in one end of the mold and passes as cast metal from the other end of the mold, the cooling of the mold substantially immediately after molten metal is received in the mold has generally. been accomplished only at the risk of an explosive reaction between the coolant for the mold and the molten metal.

This is because the prior art does not provide for directing a coolant against a mold adjacent an end of the mold without splashing of the coolant into the mold prior to the entry of molten metal into the mold and without splashing of coolant on the molten metal as it enters the mold, and because a coolant, such a water, in a mold or splashing on a molten metal reacts ex- United States Patent plosively with the molten metal. Attempts to avoid this difiiculty in the prior art by not cooling the mold substantially immediately after molten metal is received in the mold not only interfere with the proper initial cooling of molten metal in the mold but also frequently cause damage to the mold from the heat of the molten metal.

The invention disclosed herein overcomes these and other difficulties encountered in the prior art in that it provides for the controlled initial cooling of a molten metal in a mold by a coolant from substantially the time that the molten metal enters the mold until the initial cooling of the molten metal is completed without the risk of an explosive reaction between the coolant and the molten metal. Moreover, by providing for the cooling of the mold substantially immediately after molten metal is received in the mold, the invention not only provides for complete control of the initial cooling of the molten metal in the mold but also insures that the mold is not damaged by the heat of the molten metal.

The invention avoids the difiiculties encountered in the prior art by directing a plurality of independently adjustable coolants in sequence against the mold to provide for the controlled initial cooling of the molten metal and by directing one of the coolants against the mold adjacent the entry end of the mold. That coolant directed against the mold adjacent the entry end of the mold serves as an entry coolant and the entry coolant is directed against the mold in a path which causes the coolant to move along the surface of the mold in a direction away from the entry end of the mold. The path of the entry coolant prevents the splashing of this coolant into the entry end of the mold or the splashing of this coolant onto the molten metal during the pouring of molten metal into the entry end of the mold.

In addition, the path of the entry coolant serves to prevent the other coolants from reaching the entry end of the mold. Thus, the entry coolant and the other coolants in the plurality of independently adjustable coolants provide for the controlled initial cooling of a molten metal in a manner not possible in the prior art without the risk of an explosive reaction between a coolant and the molten metal.

These and other features and advantages of the invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings in which like characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout and in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a casting machine which embodies the invention disclosed herein;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged detailed side elevational view of a plurality of wedge members for directing entry coolant against a mold adjacent the entry end of the mold;

FIG. 3 is -a sectional view of one of the plurality of Wedge members shown in FIG. 2 taken in line 3-3 in FIG. 2.

These figures and the following detailed description disclose a specific embodiment of the invention. However, the invention is not limited to the details disclosed since it may be embodied in other equivalent forms.

The invention disclosed herein is best understood in terms of a casting machine C, such as that shown in FIG. 1, having a casting wheel 10 and an endless band 11 positioned against the periphery of the casting wheel 10"by a plurality of support wheels 12, 12', and 12". The casting wheel 10 includes an annular member 13 with a peripheral groove 14 which is closed by the band 11-to provide a mold M having an entry end A at which a molten metal 15 is received from a crucible 16 and an exit end B from which a cast metal 17 passes.

In the casting machine C shown in FIG. 1, cooling of the inner periphery 18 of the annular member 13 is ac- 18 of'the annular member 13 through a plurality of nozzles 19 from a plurality of chambers 20 and 21 to which coolant is supplied through supply tubes 22 from a main supply line 23,. Similarly, the sides 24 of the annular member- 13 are cooled by coolant direct against the Sides 2 10f the annular member 13 through a plurality of nozzles 25 item atplurality of arcuate tubes 26 to which coolant is supplied through supply tubes 27 from he m in upply line 23.

The cooling of the inner periphery 18 and of the sides 2. fth a n la member 13. is only briefly descn'bed herein because the casting machine C embodies the in- Yflli Ql d clo ed here in a o g app r us R for co ling the band 11. The invention has been disclosed herein as embodied in a cooling apparatus R for cooling the band 11 because in a casting machine such as the casting m achlllQ C, the cooling of the relatively thin band 11 .pro-

videsan efiective means for controlling the rates at which a molten metal 15 in the mold M is cooled.

Moreover, in a casting machine such as the casting machine C, the prior art has not provided for cooling the band 11 adjacent the entry end A of the mold M without the risir of coolant entering the entry end A of the mold M or being splashed on the molten metal 15 as the molten metal 15 enters the entry end A of the mold M. In addition, when the prior art has failed to cool the band 11 in a casting machine C substantially immediatelyafter molten metal is received in, the mold M in order to avoid this risk of coolant entering the mold M or splashing on the molten metal 15, damage to the band 11 from the heat ofthe molten metal 15 has frequently resulted.

Thus, the cooling of the band 11 in a casting machine such as the casting machine C is representative of the difficulties' encountered in the prior art in the cooling of a mold. However, it will be understood that the casting machine C is merely representative of a mold arrangement and that the cooling apparatus R is merely representative of a variety of cooling arrangements in which the invention disclosed herein may be embodied.

The cooling apparatus R for cooling the band 11 as taught herein comprises a plurality of cooling means 30, 31, and 32 arranged in sequence between the entry end A of the mold M and that point C along the arcuate path followed bythe molten metal 15 as it moves with the mold M at which it generally desired that the initial cooling of the molten metal 15 be substantially completed. The cooling means 30 serves as an entry cooling means for cooling the band 11 substantially immediately after molten metal 1 is received in the mold M at the entry end A of the mold M.

In that embodiment of the invention disclosed herein the entry cooling means 30 includes a plurality of wedge members 33 mounted in parallel on a supply tube 34 which extends between the casting wheel and the support wheel 12 that supports the band 11 at the entry end A of the mold M. Each wedge member 33 has parallel sides 35 and 36. spaced apart and joined by a nozzle plate 37 and Wall plates 38,, 39 and 40 so as to define a coolant receiving chamber 41 through which the supply tube 34 extends and into which a coolant passes through a plurality of apertures 42 in the supply tube 34 from the main supply line. 23.

The sides, 35 and 36 of the wedge members 33 are shaped for insertion and each wedge member 33 is inserted into the space between the casting wheel 10 and the support wheel 12 with an apex 43 of each wedge member 33 adjacent the line of tangency of the support wheel 12 with the casting wheel 10 and with the nozzle plate 37 of 7 each wedge member 33 extending downwardly adjacent the band 11 at the entry end A of the mold M. Each.

nozzle plate 37 is a substantially solid block having a plurality of coolant discharge channels 44 extending downwardly through it in a direction which results in the discharge of jets oi coolant from a coolant receiving chamher 41 downwardly'along the surface of the band 11.

4 7 Thus, each wedge member 33 serves to direct jets of coolant against the band 11 adjacent the entry end A" of the mold M in paths which cause the coolant to move along the band 11 away from the enry end A.

The cooling means 31 and the cooling means 32 are arranged in sequence adjacent the arcuate path of the molten metal as it moves with the mold M from the entry cooling means 30 to the point C. Each cooling means 31 and 32 is an arcuate tube 44' positioned adjacent the band 11 and having a plurality of nozzles 45 positioned along its length for directing jets of coolant ing means 31 and 32. Moreover, the path of coolant from.

the entry cooling means 30 is such that coolant directed against the band 11 by the entry cooling means 30 moves along the band 11 away from the entry end A of the mold M and when this coolant reaches that coolant being directed against the band 11 by the cooling means 31, the coolant being directed against the band 11 by the cooling means 31 is moved along the band 11 away from-the entry end A of the mold M even though it is being directed against the band 11 in a path substantially perpendicu? lar to the band 11.

Thus, the entry cooling means 3.0 not only provides a means for directing coolant against the band 11 immediately adjacent the entry end A of the mold M but also provides a means for providing a flow of coolant along the band 11 away from the entry end A of the mold M which moves other coolants from the cooling means 31 and the cooling means 32 away from the entry end A of the mold 11. In addition, the entry cooling means 30, with the cooling means 31 and the cooling means 32, provides three independently adjustable cooling zones through which the molten metal 15 passes as the molten metal 15 I moves with the mold M between the entry end A of the, mold M and the point C. The supply tube 34 has a valve 50 positioned therein and the main supply linet23 has a main supply valve 51 positioned therein, and it will be understood that adjusting of the valve 50 and of the valves 46 and 47 when the main supply valve 51 is open will adjust the coolant from a coolant source (not shown) directed against the band 11 in sequence by the cooling means 30, 31 and 32 to provide for substantially any desired initial cooling of the molten metal 15 between the entry end A of the mold M and the point C Moreover, the entry cooling means 3.0 provides a convenient means for pre-cooling the band 11 prior to molten metal 15 entering the mold M. Such a pre-cooling of the mold M is particularly desirable when it is required that coolant be directed against the band 11 under relatively high pressures to cool molten metal 15 in the mold M since such pressures in the absence of the heat of the molten met-a1 15 in the mold M create a vapor which could enter the mold M in spite of the action of the entry cooling means 30. l

When the entry cooling means 30 is used to pre-cool the mold M, the flow of coolant'prior to molten metal 15 entering the mold M is limited to the entry cooling means 30 by closing the main supply valve 51 and by supplying coolant to the entry cooling means 30' with a by-pass line 53 through a valve 54 which provides a coolant pressure less than that provided by the valve 50. A check valve 55 prevents coolant from entering the main supply line 23 through the supply line 34 even though the valve 50 is open.

It will be understood that with this prefcooling arrangement, the band 11 adjacent the entry end A of the mold M is cooled only by coolant at less than operating pressure flowing along the band 11 away from the entry end A of the mold M. The resulting pro-cooling serves to cool that portion of the band 11 which initially engages the molten metal 15 to provide for the cooling of the molten metal 15 during the period of time required for the valve 51 to open and provide coolant at operating pressure after molten metal 15 is in the mold M. In addition, the precooling of the band 11 prevents damage to the band 11 by the heat of the molten metal 15 during this period of time.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that many variations may be made in the embodiments chosen for the purpose of illustrating the present invention without departing from the scope thereof as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed as invention is:

1. In a cooling apparatus for a mold defined by a casting wheel with a peripheral groove and by a band which closes a length of said groove and is positioned at one end of said length by a support wheel adjacent said casting wheel, a first cooling means positioned adjacent said length of said groove and said support wheel for directing a coolant against a surface of said band in a first path substantially perpendicular to said surface, and a second cooling means extending between said casting wheel and said support wheel for directing a coolant from between said casting wheel and said support wheel along said surface in a second path toward said first path, said second cooling means including a wedge member with its apex adjacent a line of tangency of said support wheel with said casting wheel and having a coolant receiving chamber and a plurality of coolant discharge channels extending outwardly from said chamber in a direction toward said band and away from said line of tangency through which a coolant is discharged from said chamber.

2. The cooling apparatus of claim 1 including third cooling means for directing a coolant against said surface of said band, said third cooling means being positioned along said length of said groove more remote from said support wheel than said first cooling means.

3. The cooling apparatus of claim 2 in which said first cooling means and said third cooling means are operable independently of each other for directing a coolant against said surface of said band.

4. The cooling apparatus of claim 2 in which said second cooling means is operable independently of said third cooling means for directing a coolant relative to said surface of said band.

5. The cooling apparatus of claim 1 in which said first cooling means and said second cooling means are operable independently of each other for directing a coolant relative to said surface of said band.

6. The cooling apparatus of claim 1 in which said first cooling means includes an arculate tube extending along said length of said groove adjacent said band and a plurality of nozzles positioned along said arcuate tube by which jets of a coolant are directed against said surface of said band.

7. The cooling apparatus of claim 6 in which said second cooling means is a means for directing a plurality of jets of a coolant along said surface of said band and in which said jets along said surface of said band intersect said jets directed against said surface of said band by said plurality of nozzles.

8. The cooling apparatus of claim 1 in which said wedge member is one of a plurality of wedge members positioned parallel and adjacent to each other on a coolant supply tube extending through a coolant receiving chamber in each of said wedge members and having a plurality of apertures positioned for discharge of a coolant into a coolant receiving chamber in each of said plurality of wedge members.

9. The cooling apparatus of claim 1 in which said apex is formed by the joining of a nozzle plate in which said plurality of coolant discharge channels are formed and of a wall plate.

10. The cooling apparatus of claim 1 in which said casting wheel and said support wheel define a space below said line of tangency and in which said wedge member is shaped to substantially conform to said space.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 944,370 12/ 1909 Monnot .22--57.2

FOREIGN PATENTS 536,316 1/1957 Canada. 53 6,317 1/1957 Canada. 801,547 9/ 1958 Great Britain. 861,273 2/ 1961 Great Britain. 958,761 5/1964 Great Britain. 1,014,449 12/ 1965 Great Britain.

566,874 9/ 1957 Italy.

I. SPENCER OVERHOLSER, Primar Examiner, R. S. ANNEAR, Assistant Examiner, 

1. IN A COOLING APPARATUS FOR A MOLD DEFINED BY A CASTING WHEEL WITH A PERIPHERAL GROOVE AND BY A BAND WHICH CLOSES A LENGTH OF SAID GROOVE AND IS POSITIONED AT ONE END OF SAID LENGTH BY A SUPPORT WHEEL ADJACENT SAID CASTING WHEEL, A FIRST COOLING MEANS POSITIONED ADJACENT SAID LENGTH OF SAID GROOVE AND SAID SUPPORT WHEEL FOR DIRECTING A COOLANT AGAINST A SURFACE OF SAID BAND IN A FIRST PATH SUBSTANTIALLY PERPENDICULAR TO SAID SURFACE, AND A SECOND COOLING MEANS EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID CASTING WHEEL AND SAID SUPPORT WHEEL FOR DIRECTING A COOLANT FROM BETWEEN SAID CASTING WHEEL AND SAID SUPPORT WHEEL ALONG SAID SURFACE IN A SECOND PATH TOWARD SAID FIRST PATH, SAID SECOND COOLING MEANS INCLUDING A WEDGE MEMBER WITH ITS APEX ADJACENT A LINE OF TANGENCY OF SAID SUPPORT WHEEL WITH SAID CASTING WHEEL AND HAVING A COOLANT RECEIVING CHAMBER AND A PLURALITY OF COOLANT DISCHARGE CHANNELS EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM SAID CHAMBER IN A DIRECTION TOWARD SAID BAND AND AWAY FROM SAID LINE OF TANGENCY THROUGH WHICH A COOLANT IS DISCHARGED FROM SAID CHAMBER. 